San Antonio Municipal Court seeks $17.6 million for FY2027; highlights juvenile diversion and Linebarger collection contract

Fred Garcia, municipal court clerk, and Presiding Judge Carla Bledo presented the Municipal Court proposed FY2027 operating budget of $17,600,000, a 4.8% increase in general fund support compared with FY2026.

Garcia said the increase reflects a $627,000 contractual rise related to the Linebarger collection contract and cost‑of‑living adjustments; those additions were partly offset by recommended reductions totaling $455,273 achieved through position eliminations and line‑item right‑sizing. The court proposed raising the online transaction fee from $4 to $5 (the maximum allowed under state law) to better recover the direct costs of online services. “The current cost to provide each online transaction is approximately $5.15,” Garcia said, explaining the legal and fiscal rationale.

Judge Carla Bledo described the court’s jurisdiction over fine‑only Class C misdemeanors, the statutory safeguards under Chapter 45A and Article 15.17 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, and the court’s role as city magistrate for probable‑cause determinations. She highlighted juvenile services and the city’s youth‑diversion program, saying the program had an 88% success rate with 140 diversion cases closed satisfactorily as of the end of August.

Council members pressed for clarifications about the Linebarger fee structure (the firm receives a fee on collected outstanding balances; Garcia said the firm’s fee is a proration of collected amounts) and for more detail on whether juvenile diversion participants leave without a criminal record (Bledo: successful diversion results in case outcomes that do not leave a conviction). The clerk and judge committed to provide further data, partner lists for referrals, and clarifications about warrant volumes and the warrant officers whose positions are proposed for elimination.